Introduction

Prince Al-Waleed bin Talal hails from the royal family of Saudi Arabia (he is the nephew of King Abdullah of Saudi Arabia). Most of his fortune has been made from investments in real estate and the stock market. The Forbes World Top Billionaire ranks him in the 19th position with an estimated net worth of $19.4 billion.

Prince Al-Waleed bin Talal is nicknamed the Arabian Warren Buffett by the Time magazine.

The Career of Prince Al-Waleed bin Talal

Prince Al-Waleed bin Talal graduated from the Menlo College and started his business career right then. His investing skills came into light prominently after he bought substantial shares in Citicorp in the 1990s when the firm was in rough waters.

He also invested $550 million by buying $2.98 a share in Citibank to bail out Citibank when it was in the verge of collapsing due to underperforming American real estate loans and Latin American businesses. This also made him famous by the name of the Arabian Warren Buffett. He now has about $1 billion worth of shares in Citigroup.

Prince Al-Waleed bin Talal‚ the 19th world top billionaire has also made significant investments in AOL‚ Apple Inc.‚ MCI Inc.‚ Motorola‚ News Corporation Ltd and lots of other companies of technology and media.

He has 95% stake in Saudi-listed investment vehicle‚ Kingdom Holding Company. This accounts for two-thirds of his fortune.

The Real Estate Holdings of Prince Al-Waleed bin Talal

A glimpse at his real estate holdings‚ and he has large stakes in the Four Seasons hotel chain and in New York in the Plaza Hotel. He also invested in London’s Savoy Hotel‚ which he later purchased in 2005 for an estimated GBP £250 million and Monaco’s Monte Carlo Grand Hotel. He has bought the Fairmont Hotels in Toronto for an estimated $3.9 billion. He is also 10% stake-holder in Euro Disney SCA.

He invested a major sum of $70 million towards Al-Waleed’s Rotana Group‚ the Arab World’s largest entertainment company.

From the last year‚ Prince Al-Waleed bin Talal has seen a rise of $6.1 billion in his wealth. The net worth of his palaces and real estate sum to almost $3 billion. He also has an impressive jewelry collection of $730 million. This prince‚ who is prince in the literal terms‚ owns 4 airplanes privately. One of them is an Airbus A380.
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